It was only her second shift. The first had been in pain. This one felt... like returning.

  Like her body had been waiting to remember it.

  Every leap through the snow felt like she had been born for it.

  She didn't want to stop.

  But her legs were beginning to ache.

  And when the trees thinned, she saw it. A hot spring with steam rising in soft spirals. It was tucked between the rocks like a hidden gift.

  She slowed, breath heaving, and padded toward a tree.

  She shifted mid-step, skin replacing fur in a shimmer of silver, and collapsed to her knees, panting.

  The cold slammed into her at once.

  Thank the gods for enchanted training suits. At least she wasn't naked on top of everything else. Training suits included built-in boots, made with the same material so she also wasn't barefoot in the snow. Another win.

  Then she heard something.

  Voices.

  Nova went still.

  For a second she assumed they were rogues, but the cadence was wrong. The way they spoke — clipped, sharp, organized — marked them as soldiers.

  "...get in, get out. No fighting unless we have to."

  "If needed, we'll slip, poison the mage. Quietly. Without him, their shields drop."

  Her heart slammed against her ribs.

  Poison the mage? Aeron?

  How did they know about Aeron? He was a secret weapon that not even everyone in the pack knew. Let alone outsiders.

  She crept quietly to the edge of the rocks, staying low.

  Four of them. Black leather armor. No pack insignia.

  Her stomach turned.

  She tried to remember what she knew — how to backtrack silently. How to avoid scent trails.

  If only she were actually a member of the Shadowclaw pack... she would have mindlinked someone. Jax. Aeron.

  But even if she could, would they want to hear from her?

  Their expressions... she shuttered thinking about it.

  They're afraid of me.

  She clenched her fists, the cold creeping into her skin.

  I need to warn them.

  She turned—

  Too late.

  Rough hands grabbed her, followed by his arms around her waist.

  She let out a high-pitched scream, but a palm clamped down over her mouth.

  "That was easier than I thought it'd be," a man growled in her ear.

  And then pain.

  He slammed her into the frozen ground. She gasped, but another man grabbed her leg. A third came from behind.

  A boot cracked into her stomach and on her already bruised rib, knocking the air from her lungs.

  ???

  Fin was running hard, snow whipping at his sides, paws pounding like war drums across the forest floor — when it hit him.

  A surge of emotion through the bond. Not fear or sadness anymore.

  Terror.

  So sharp it made his wolf stumble mid-stride.

  His claws dug into the earth, and his head whipped in the direction of the pull, heart beating so hard he could hear it. Something was wrong.

  Then he heard it — a scream. High-pitched. Nova.

  No. No no no—

  He could sense she was in a lot of pain. He pushed harder, dodging trees, muscles burning with speed. And then he saw her on the ground.

  She was surrounded by masked rogues or warriors. Fin couldn't fully tell.

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  One rogue had her by the throat. Her face twisted in pain. Another warrior kicked her again while she was down.

  A fire lit in Finric's chest.

  Xeon: Mine.

  A growl built deep in his throat—ready to kill. He attempted to mindlink his Border & Patrol Captain, Gamma, and Beta.

  Fin: Multiple attackers. Need backup immediately.

  No response.

  He needed to get her out of there. Just as he leaped into the fight, a shape shot out from the left.

  Jax.

  The gamma slammed into the knife-wielding rogue like a meteor, tackling him backward. The knife sank into his side, but Jax didn't stop.

  With a savage twist of his jaw, Jax's fangs closed over the rogue's throat and ripped it clean.

  Blood sprayed.

  The other attackers paused in shock.

  Fin skidded to a halt just as Jax went down, panting, blood soaking his side.

  And then—Nova stood up, blood coming out of her mouth and stumbled over to Jax. She grabbed the knife pulling it from him and cut her hand before he realized what was happening.

  Her silver blood poured onto him. The wound glowed with her hand above. White. Blinding. Soft.

  He was still in wolf form, but it was clear he wasn't in pain anymore.

  A second later, he stood up, completely healed. He was on alert, ready to protect.

  She dropped back down to her knees and hands holding her rib.

  Three wolves lunged for her. Snarling. Fangs bared. Kill orders in their eyes.

  And then—

  BOOM!

  A pulse of blinding white light exploded from Nova, lifting the wolves into the air and slamming them into the trees with bone-snapping force.

  She collapsed, laying on her side on the ground.

  They dropped, unconscious.

  The blast went in all directions — except two.

  Fin and Jax weren't touched. The glow faded.

  Fin rushed over now standing above her, back in human form, shirtless, furious, jaw clenched so tightly it looked carved from stone.

  He didn't touch her or say anything. But his entire body was shaking.

  The attackers blood stained the snow.

  And the only sound was Nova gasping for breath.

  Fin read her emotions through the mate bond. He dropped to his knees beside her.

  "You didn't do anything wrong."

  She looked up at him, wide-eyed.

  And for the first time, he didn't try to hide it.

  "You're mine."

  Nova's breathing slowed. Her hands, still faintly glowing, fell limply to her sides. Blood trailed from under her ribs.

  He saw her cheek was bruised and bleeding as well.

  Silver.

  Finric's pulse roared.

  Was it always silver? How did she know her blood would heal Jax?

  His wolf rose like a storm beneath his skin. Every hair on his arms lifted.

  Not rogues. Not wanderers. These were trained warriors.

  The air shifted. The forest went still.

  And then they came — slipping between trees like wraiths. Not one or two. Fifty, at least.

  A strike team.

  Jax growled nearby. He moved towards Nova, but five warriors tackled him — chains, cuffs, blades. Silver gleamed.

  Nova screamed.

  Fin's control shattered.

  He launched himself forward, intercepting a wolf mid-pounce. Blood sprayed. He didn't care. He didn't stop.

  He turned to shield her again when a figure emerged from the tree line.

  Etched steel across his face, and arrogance in every step.

  Fin didn't need to see his eyes to know who it was.

  Riven Ashbane.

  Nova's so called half-brother. Her tormentor. The newly crowned Alpha of the pack she'd once been prisoner to.

  His omega half-sister. He thought she was an embarrassment. A threat. A possession.

  Now he wanted her back.

  Not happening.

  Fin stepped between them, his wolf form humming with power.

  Nova whimpered behind him — still conscious, barely — clutching her side.

  Riven said nothing. Just looked at her like his prized possession gone missing.

  Fin bared his teeth.

  Then lifted his hand. A command for the attackers to take down the enemy. They came all at once. Jax and Fin moved forward keeping them away from Nova.

  Ashbane lunged, cutting through the chaos like a shadow unbound.

  His hands clamped around Nova without hesitation, dragging her into his arms like she was prey and he'd finally claimed her. His grip was rough, uncaring, almost eager to hurt.

  Nova stirred, trying to push him away, but her strength failed her. Her body was slick with blood, half-frozen from the snow.

  Her limbs felt heavy. Distant. She was cold. Slipping. And now in enemy hands.

  More attackers charged at Fin and Jax. There were too many to get to Nova.

  Riven charged toward the cliff's edge with her in his arms.

  He looked down at her.

  And then, without another word, he jumped.

  Fearless and absolute, as if daring death to follow.

  Parts of the river were frozen but the waterfall still roared behind them. This jump was a death for most shifters.

  If you avoided the rocks at the bottom, the water would be ice cold this time of year. The undercurrents would be fierce.

  Her wolf and magic were drained. She couldn't shift before impact and it hit full force.

  ???

  The instant Riven leapt off the cliff with Nova in his arms, Jax and Fin followed without hesitation, paws driving them over the edge and into the air.

  The world exploded into a blur of snow, wind, and white sky.

  The river hit like stone, and Jax went under fast.

  His wolf's limbs screamed against the cold, the current dragging him sideways.

  Freezing. Violent. Unforgiving.

  His lungs burned, limbs screamed, but his wolf surged through the pain with one command.

  Find her. Find her. Find her.

  He broke the surface gasping, head snapping left. He saw a flash of silver beneath the water.

  Nova. Drifting, weightless, her hair swirling like liquid moonlight in the dark current.

  Underwater, he forced a shift, bones cracking and lungs screaming. His human hands found her, his arms closed tightly around her.

  He kicked with everything he had left, driving them upward, and broke through the surface with a gasp.

  She wasn't breathing.

  Shit.

  He kicked toward the bank, the current nearly tearing them apart.

  A shape fought above them in the trees—Fin. Holding off Ashbane.

  He slammed onto the rocky shore with Nova in his arms, gasping, teeth chattering, eyes burning from the cold.

  No. No no no—

  Her lips were blue.

  Her chest wasn't moving.

  "Nova!" Jax shouted, voice breaking.

  Jax laid her flat, hands shaking. He pumped her chest and tilted her head, blew in air, pumped again— One. Two. Three. Four.

  "Come on, dammit—don't you do this."

  And then, she jerked.

  Coughed.

  Choked.

  Water spilled from her mouth as she rolled to her side, gasping, shivering violently. She tried to sit up.

  Jax sagged in relief, brushing wet hair from her face, his hand still on her back.

  "You good?" he panted, voice hoarse. "You done dying every time I turn around or should I start carrying a damn stretcher?"

  Nova let out a weak, watery laugh that turned into a sob. Her shoulders shook, and she collapsed into his chest.

  He caught her.

  Held her.

  "I got you. You're alright now."

  Her side was bleeding. Her skin freezing.

  There was a blur of movement above and a sharp crack of claws meeting claws.

  Jax looked up just in time to see a figure leap through the trees: Riven Ashbane, retreating with a snarl.

  Fin didn't chase him. He staggered, bloodied, breathing hard.

  Nova clutched Jax tighter.

  She took one more shaky breath.

  Then her eyes closed, and her body went limp in his arms.